Article of furniture of the folding type



N0.v.|13, 1934- a c. J. sYMMoNDs 1,980,450

I ARTICLE OF FURNITURE OF THE FOLDING TYPE Filed April 26, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l l A9 Q l l I Rig@ \|l||| 'I l @ffm D 4% Z NOY. 13, 1934. Q 1 SYMMONDS 1,980,450

ARTICLE OF FURNITURE OF THE FOLDING TYPE @Hoi/man links (22), one end of said rods being pivotally secured to said offsets at (3l) and (32) and the other ends thereof pivotally secured to pointed arch shaped cam members (33) at (34) and (35) 5 respectively, said cam member being secured to an operating or control lever or handle (H). The controlf'lever `(YI-I) extends across the tablebe#A tween the sides (5) thereof and has oneofsaid cam members (33) xably' secured at each of the remote ends thereof.

The control lever or handlev (H )containing the pointed arched shapedcarn'members""(33) is connected by said cam members (33)y to all of the side corner or leg moving".linkagessozthat; upon movement thereof the. two legs (2) will be folded into inoperative position first and there-l after upon further movement of the controllink-'fv4 age` the two legs (1) will be folded to their inoperative position. This con-trlllevercomprises'a substantially bail or U-shaped member (36) made of resilient material which is adapted to be sprung into a'locked or latched position, by means of latch members '(3'7) and' (38) connected tothe bottom of the cross bar (3) and suitably'spaced' f-;= from 1 eachother.

A friction bearing and guid m'nbr (39) is secured by screws (40) orthe like to each ofthe side rails (5)'.of'tl'1eftable adjacent'v thearch,

shaped cam members .(33). Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the' friction'bea'ringand guide members" (39) comprise a U-shaped member v(41e) the legs (42) ,of which are bent aty rig-ht angles to form feet .(43) and (44), saidfeet being transmembers (33) bythe controllever. or handle,.(H)..

,.'Io operate .my device when the legs of thevv g table are in van extended .or operativeV positionl I proceed as follows:

I -flrst grasp one ofthe sides ofthe table parv alleling the leg .axes and place the table in a. slopinginverted position so `that the extended u legs :will be away from me. Next with the other' hand I grasp the Aoperatir'ig lever ,(I-I)L near its middle, spring -it away from theA latch member (37),y tolrelease the operating lever therefrom and then swing it across the bottom of the' table.

@Asthef operating lever is swung, yit Arotates thev cam memliyers` (33) upon the axes o f ,rotation l thereof across the transversely curved big'ht or arch (46) lof the guide members (39), the connesting rods (29) being held stationary, lthe con- Afinecting rods-(30) are forced against'the .tri-

angular offset portion (25) of the. folding braces (20) which rotate the folding braces (20) on their pivots (27) thus folding the pair of legs (2) on their axis (13) into inoperative position. Continual movement of the operatinglever V(H) re-` leases or frees'the cam members (33) from contact with the bight or arch of the guide members (39). The pivoted `ends of the connecting rods v'(30) at (32) now become stationary and C the rotating axis of the `cam operating lever: (H)` changes from a stationary pivot (34) to a movable pivot (35) and further rotation of the cam members (33)`by the operating lever (H) forces the rods (29) to move the linkages connecting them with the pair of legs (l) to fold the linkages into their folded.V or'inoperative, position upon th'elegs (2) .i Z'I'he operating lever is thensprung into i t s latched position with the latch member (38) thus locking A the legsv (l) and (2) in their folded or inoperative position. To raise the llegs .fromtheinfolded position the movement v of the `operating"lever is simply reversed.

The reverse movement of the operating lever (H) causesxthepair of. legs (1) which are uppermost to unfold first, afterwhich the pair of legs (2) "unfoldf Thelever'(H) is then sprung into a ,flatchedposition with the latch member (37) to lock the pairof legs (1) and (2) into their unfolded cir'l operative position.

n It will Ythnsbe seen that I have invented al highlynovel, simple, and vefficient article of .furnitureof the 'folding vWD??Whichis well adapted-, for allthe purposesj'designated. Even though I have herein shown fandfdescribedmy device as; comprising certainstructural yelements itis neven* thelessto be understood thatfchanges may;be madeJ thereinwi'thout departing from the spirit orscopelof'myfinvention. .p

Having 'described my invention, what I claim as' new vand wish to "secureby Letters Patent is;

1.j An article" o f'furniturezof the'folding type comprising aQfra'me having ends; a unitary 'leg' member fpivoted thereto atl each end, common control means, 'leg moving "means yconnected" "to said common controlmeansandjsaid runitary leg'ug membersj'a vfrictionbearing and guidejmember v associated'with certain of ysaid leg moving vmeans and connected tolsaid frame, said common con-" trol means comprising a bail link and means pro-" videdthereon contacting with said fricztionfbear-v `ing yand'guide member to operatesaid leg moving means uponv the "operation ofv said common' con? trol means. 1 f l f2'. article of furniturecomprisinga frame having ends, a unitary leg 'member pivotedthere-v toat eachend, common control', means, leg moving" means A4connected 'to saidj 'common control means and said unitary leg members, a frictionA bearingand guide member associated with certain of said leg Amoving means and connected tosaid frame, said vcommon control 'means comprisingl a bail link and Ic :an'rmenfibers provided`there-- onfcontacting with' said friction Abearing Zand; guide member 'to operate said leg moving means j;

upon the operation fof said oo mrrloncontrol` having ends, a unitary leg member pivoted there-: to ateach' endand common means for folding first one unitary, legmemberand then-the other unitary 4leg member into inoperativeposition "150 ....Mgus 4. An article'of .furniture'wcomprising a frame,-

upon continual movement of said means, said n means comprising a control link having cam gmembers provided thereon, collapsible braces, connecting rods pivotally connecting said co1- 5"iapsible braces to said cam members, each of said collapsible braces pivoted to its respective leg at one end and to said connecting rods and to said frame at the other end thereof, and fric- CHARLES J. SYMMONDS. 

